James Middleton, the brother of Duchess Catherine and her sister Pippa Middleton, has opened up about his unusual hobby โ and the very generous gift his siblings and their parents gave him to help kickstart this lifelong passion.
In a new column for the Daily Mail, the 33-year-old wrote about his intense love of beekeeping and the delight he experiences in caring for the half a million bees he owns.
โIโve been a passionate advocate of these ingenious, industrious little creatures since I became a beekeeper myself nearly a decade ago, having fallen for them as a child,โ James wrote.
โI now have almost half a million bees in eight hives in a meadow at our family home. And Iโve whiled away many happy hours with them during lockdown. Iโm in awe of these incredible insects.โ
James said heโs always wanted a bee colony of his own โ and almost a decade ago, his family helped make his beekeeping dreams come true.
โIโd always harboured a longing to keep bees, but it wasnโt until I turned 24 in 2011 that the wish became reality. Then, my family โmum, dad and my sisters Catherine and Pippa โ clubbed together to buy what for me was the most fantastic birthday gift imaginable,โ he wrote.
โA delivery van arrived with a large buzzing box with the cautionary label: โLive Beesโ. Inside was the nucleus โ the start โ of my colony: 1,000 Buckfast bees.โ
James explained that a new hive of been costs around ยฃ500 or $AU900, so it was certainly a very generous birthday gift!
James, who now makes his own honey and gives away โmost of the 50 to 100 jars I make each year as presents to friendsโ, admits he has been stung many times by his bees โ but only thanks to his own carelessness.
โIโve been stung hundreds of times โ actually the reaction tends to get worse over time โ but Iโm not put off and I never blame the bees,โ James said.
โItโs always my fault: I havenโt been careful enough; Iโve been lazy about wearing the protective equipment; Iโve caught them on a day when theyโre feeling grumpy or out of sorts.โ
This isnโt the fist time James has publicly gushed about his love for bees.
In an Instagram post in August 2019, James spoke highly of the meditative and mental health benefits of beekeeping.
He has been very open about his battles with intense depression and anxiety over the years, and explained that tending to his bees help reduce his symptoms.
โBee keeping to me is a meditation. Itโs a chance to escape my mind and be so consumed by something that hours can pass by without knowing it,โ he wrote.
โMeditation is a wonderful tool to help with stress, anxiety, depression and doesnโt just need to be practised sitting down!โ
James is currently engaged to his fiancรฉe Alizzee Thevenet.
The pair were set to get married this year but have been forced to cancel their wedding due to the coronavirus pandemic.
WATCH BELOW: See how James Middleton announced his engagement to Alizee Thevenet.